Erik ten Hag can’t fix the biggest problem at Manchester United because he refuses to see it – Man United News And Transfer News

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Casemiro’s legs are gone. Marcus Rashford doesn’t track back. Bruno Fernandes whines a lot. Christian Eriksen has lost his physicality. Scott McTominay is not disciplined positionally. Harry Maguire is clumsy.

These are just some of the criticisms Manchester United players have faced this season. They are all correct, to varying degrees, but to say that the squad which came third last season and won a trophy is suddenly useless would be too black and white.

The fact is, Erik ten Hag’s system, instead of masking the deficiencies of his players and maximising their effectiveness, is exacerbating it.

Players losing trust in their manager and giving up has been a common theme in post-Sir Alex world at United which is why Ten Hag has been afforded a longer leash.

It is ironic, therefore, that the one-time players are actually following his instructions to a tee, it is causing more worry than it would if they had given up.

That’s because Ten Hag’s tactics are the biggest problem at United right now, clearer than ever after the defeat to Fulham at Old Trafford.

Pressing structure and “Chaos ball”

Pressing is a crucial part of modern football and all good teams do it. Ten Hag waxing lyrical about his team gaining possession high up the pitch should be a marker for greatness.

However, Ten Hag’s idea is good, but its implementation is flawed. The result is, that United are easily bypassed in midfield once the opponent plays through their initial forward press.

That is not hard to do, since for a manager who talks so much about pressing, his idea of pressing just seems to be the player running towards the ball.

It’s hard to see a pressing trigger, nobody is marking the space, and the only trap United set in pressing is for themselves where they are open for a counterattack.

A simple one-two bypasses the press and suddenly, a wave of opponent players are running right at the defensive midfielder, all alone on an island.

Casemiro’s legs might not be the same as last year, but no defensive midfielder can mark an acre of space and multiple players by himself.

Harry Maguire might be clumsy, but there’s no defensive line that can handle the amount of high-quality transition opportunities United leak on a per-game basis

Christian Eriksen lacks physicality, but no player can match the pace of the game when it’s just ping-pong from one end to the other.

In fact, it can be argued that the reason why United have had so many injuries this season is because players are forced into situations where they have to make more high-intensity runs than ever before.

United players are not covering themselves in glory, but for once, in the post-Sir Alex era, it is the individual quality which is carrying the club to wins, despite the system set up to hinder them.

It will ultimately lead to a situation where either the system needs to change, or the one implementing it needs to be changed.

Right now, the latter looks more likely than the former because Ten Hag is nothing if not stubborn in his ways.